Feeding device for confectionery-machines.



PEEDING DEVICE FOR CONPBCTIONERY MACHINES.

v APPLIGATION FILED AUG. 14.1903.

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EEEDINC DEVICE ECR CCNEECTICNEEY MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 14,1903.

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Ya/vaya* PATENTED MAY 3C, 1905.

PATENTED MAY so, 1905.

C. CARLSON. I EEEDINC DEVICE ECE CCNEECTICNEEY MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 14. 1903;

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Esami-w1 Y Uulwiiiiiij Patented may 30,-190'15".

PATENT OFFICE".

Q eABRfrELoARL'soNg oF. SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS..

To alZZ'n/myzconcert:

yBe itknown that AI, GABRIEL C ARIsoN, a citizen ,of the United States 'of .-America,1 .re

{gEtsine DEv| o,E r-on colaFjEorloNERY-MACHINES.

i ,.sPEciFxcATIoNtnrpngjpart ef Letters raten, Nm 791,243; dated may 3o, '19% 1' .jjnppiaaeioatieaiggua14,1903. Seite No. 169,520.

` siding atSpringfield, in the county ofl Ham pv-` den vandState of Massachusetts, have invent# ed new'and useful Improvements in Feeding` Devicesfor'Confcctionery-Machines,of which th'efollowin'g is a specification.

This invention relates to confectionery-ma` chines,y and is: especially adaptedffor u'se i connection with coating-machines.

y l Heretofore the blank confectionsvhave been on -the feed-apron of the 'coating-machine in' fed to thecoating-m'achine manually. AIn certain .classesof workjit isessential: that the' blanksbe placed with'more or less uniformity order that they may be properly coated and also `to permit lthem to be economically han-v dled in subsequent processes. 2o

rThe object of the present invention isto pro- .videva machine whereby blank, contentions [may be deposited on thefeedingdevices'of a coating-machine -inregular alinement longitudinally and transversely-and the provision ofjmeans whereby the spacing of the 'blank confections one relative to the other may be `varied both vtransversely and longitudinally. vThe mechanism whereby these ends are. at'

' tained will be -now fully' described in the following specification and elearlypointed out In thedi'awings forming part ofV4 this applij f cation, Figure -1 isaftopplan view of a ma- Y chine embodying this invention. Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation -of the same, taken centrallyof Fig. 1` and ylongitudinally thereof. ...Fig Bisa cross-sectional elevation of the ma@ chine on line 3 o",Fig.l 1.v vFig. 4 is an enlarged sectional. elevation of y adjustable sup- .v 4o

porting means fora member of the machine,

'said. view being taken on .line 4. 4,l Fig.V 1.

Fig. 5 is-a sectional elevation, also'somewhat enlarged, taken on lin-e5 5Fig. Land show.-

ing an adjustable support for the opposite end of the element of the machine to that sup- 'ported bythe device shown in Fig. 4:. Fig. f vGis/a perspective view or` parts of the sup- .port shown in Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a yperspective view ofthe supportshown in Fig.'4 and cerf.

tain parts'associated therewith.

cially at present to Fig. 2, at is a portion' of y the end frame of a coating-machine-such, for

example, as iorms the subject-matter of my United States Letters Patent, dated January 6, y1903, No. 717 ,97 0,- I; being the feedapron on which the blank confections o are carried v through the machine and coated. This apron ,runs over a roll whereby it is moved at' that rate of speed necessary to permit the blanks to receive their coating material and to permit the latter to properly set before issuing from the machine. This rolle is mounted on a shaft e, which has on the end thereof a sprocket-wheel f, whereby by means of a chain g the blankfeeding devices which form the subject of this application are driven.

The blanksfeeding' device consists of a frame h, provided with a troughlike body, of which v1 is the bottom and j the sides. In *this body portion there is .mounted transverselythereof a roll c, which is rotated by means of the chain g." Located in the .body portion of the device and supported between the ltwo sides j thereof is an adjustable platform m, the forward end of whichis located 4Referringnow to the drawings, more espeabout vertically over the shaft e and in close.

proximity to the surface of the feed-apron rb. This platform or table serves as asupport for the apron 0, which runs over the roll le vandover the forward end of the table, said apron constituting the conveyer for carrying the confections to the apron of the-coatingmachine.

f The speed of movement of the apron 0 may bevaried by replacing the sprocket-wheel jy y'with one of different diameter or, obviously, by shifting the sprocket on the shaft ofthe roll t', an idler n for the chain being provided to make this adjustmen't'possible. Obviously any change in the speed of the apronso and b onerelative to the other will result in a change in the distance between the blanks o deposited on the apron b from the aprono.

To provide for the proper alinement of the confections as they aredeposited on the apron 7;, they are guided through certain channels established adjustably on or in close relation tothe apron n, which channels are formed by IOOV a series of substantially parallel wooden bars p, adjustably supported on the slotted bars q v shaft e extends across the-top of the receptacle and has mounted. thereon a bar in the lower edge of which is a brush w, which norl mally hangs down into the receptacle s and serves as a sort of drag to hold back the con' fections c in the receptacle, permitting only a few at a time to work forward under it. The forward` edge of the receptacle s is substantially in the plane of the upper surfaceof Vthe apron 0, and the bars p extend over intol the receptacle, as shown in Fig. 1, the eX- treme forward edge of the latter being indicated by the letter m. The ends of these bars l which extend over the bottom of the receptacle,',near the edge of the latter, are supported in closed proximity to the surface of the latter on the transversely-located support r, which is slotted from a point near its center each way, bolts y extending through these slots and into the ends of vthe sleeves z, (shown in Figs. 4 and 5,) a post 2, securedto the ends of these bars, being screw-threaded into the lower end of this sleeve. AThe bolt y vserves to bind these sleeves t`o' the support r, and by loosening this bolt and turning the sleeve the bar p may be raised and lowered to adjust itrelative to the surface of the apron o. One of the bars pviz., the central onedoes not extend over the edge of the receptacle s,- but, as shown in Fig. @the -end of it is cut olf and p permanently fastened to the bottom of said receptacle, and through this lend (which is indicated by p) a p0st 3 extends upward and through. the support r, to which it is bolted, and by means of this post an arm 4 is so secured as to extend over the adjacent end of the'vsaid central bar p, with which it is pivotally connected in the same manner as are the ends of the other bars just described. It is thus clear that the forward end Vof the receptacle s is supported on the bar 1- by means of the post 3. This support r has a transversely-sliding movement imparted to it by an elbow-lever 5, mounted in pulley 10.'

To provide means for varying the throw of the support r, the end thereof and one arm of the elbow-lever 5 are slotted, a bolt 12 eX- tending through both slots, the location of which bolt relative to the axis of the elbowlever will determine the transverse movement of the bar.

The forward ends of the bars p--that is, the ends thereof which overlie the apron b-are also pivotally adjusted on the support q in a manner in all respects similar to that described for the other ends of said bars, except that all of the bars are adjustable transversely of the apron b. The manner of supporting the forward ends of these bars differs slightly from the manner of supporting the ends over the roll lc; but this difference in construction is clearly illustrated in Fig. 5,

and it consists in turning the end of thc post 2 to the position parallel with the bar p and passing it through the two upturned ears 13, secured to the top of the bar. This gives the bar a slight endwise adjustment, as well as a pivotal support on which they may swing in a horizontal plane.A

From the foregoing description of this machine itis seen that the confections c in thc receptacle .s are shaken down under the brush w, which ,permits only a few of the confections to pass on at once, and these enter between the ends of the bars p which overlap the forward edge of the receptacle and one by one enter the various channels formed by thesev bars, and as 'soon as the confections pass onto the apron o they are moved onward through these channels and delivered over the edge of the table or platform m onto the apron bwhich is the feed-apron of the coating-machine andgwhich runs at al greater rate of speed than the apron 0,-the relative speeds of the two aprons being that which will effect the proper spacing between the confections in the line of their movement. As the confections pass down between the bars p the latter are subjected to a sidewise shaking movement in their passage over the apron by the reciprovcatory traverse movement of the support r,

and the receptacle s swings in the same horizontal plane as these bars. Thus while the relation between the ends of the bars and those confections which are on the bottom of the receptacle does not change as soon as these confec'tions pass onto the apron 0 they are rolled from side to side during their forward movement, whereby, as a matter of course,

they become arranged end to end in the chaunels through which they are passing, with their longest axes in the direction of their movement. It is thus possible to arrange the blanks v`having substantially the same contour-like ros IIO

while of not great importance for certain kinds -of confections is, onthe contrary, very imand their delivery. in a certain order onto the feed-apronof the coa ing-machine not only insures a better produ t as far as t e uniformity of thecoating is concerned, bdit renders vthe handling of these blanks-much asier both l during the feeding operation and in the submaterial hasbeen applied.

sequent packing operation after the coating Having thusv described my invention, what l claim, and desire to secure by LettersPat-r l entvof the United States, is

l. The combination with a machine which comprises a'belt conveyer to carry pieces deposited thereon through the machine, of an automatic' feeding device consisting of a hopper, bars toextend over and lengthwise of said belt conveyer-to divide the surface of the latter'into channels, one end of said bars being located in proximity to the outlet of said hopper,- to guide the pieces into the channels.

The combinatioii with a machine comprising conveyer devices to carry pieces of material through the machine,of an automatic feeding mechanism associated therewith and comprising an endwse-movable apron, a series of bars supported in proximity to the apron, the spaces between the bars constituting channels for said pieces extendinglengthwise of' the apron, means to swing the bars reciprocally transversely tQ the line of movement of the apron, and a receptacle for the 'pieces loy catedy at one end of said channels and downwardly inclined toward the latter.

3. In combination, a receptacle pivotally supportedat one end thereof to swing in a horizontal plane, an endwise-moving feedapron,bars extendinglengthwise of said apron located in proximity to the surface-thereof;v

l pivotal supports for the ends ofl said 'bars at or near thedelivery end of the apron; pivotal supports for the opposite ends of the bars consisting of a support extending transversely of the feed-apron, and a pivotal connection between said transversely-located support and the free end of said receptacle, together with means to move this last-named support reciprocally endwise, one end of the bars on the apron extending over the contiguous edge of said receptacle, and meansto move the transversely-located support of the bars and of the receptacle reciprocatingly endwise.

. 4. The combination with the conveyer devices of a confectionery-coating machine, of an automatic feeding mechanism therefor con- 'sistin g of an endwise-movable apron upwardly inclined from said conveyerdevices, a receptaele for blank confections locatednear one end of the feed-apron and upwardly inclined relative thereto; a series of substantially parper, bars to extend over and lengthwise ofl said belt conveyer to divide thesurface ofthe latter into channels, one end of said bars loeing located in proximity to the outlet of saidhopper, to guide the pieces into the channels, and means onthe hopper to prevent superposing of said pieces at the hopper-outlet.

GABRIEL CARLSON.

Witnesses:

t K. I. CLnMoiIs, WM. H. CHAPIN.l 

